A historic family hotel in the Pustertal valley has been extended and redesigned by studio noa*. The new wave deck embeds it into the landscape and makes it a place for sports and entertainment. Where you can ski, skate or walk in the middle of the Alpine nature. Photography by Alex Filz.

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A highly successful hotel has to be renovated without losing its identity, but rather strengthening it in terms of aesthetics, sustainability and services. This is the issue addressed by studio noa* in the redesign of the Falkensteiner Family Resort Lido in Casteldarne, in the Pustertal valley.
It is a historic hotel, the first to be opened by the Falkensteiner family, which today runs a group of more than 30 hospitality properties across 6 countries. Established in 1957 on the edge of the village on the shores of a small lake, the family resort has gradually expanded to cater for a clearly defined target group, that of families with children. The aim of the project was to add new spaces and functionalities that would reinforce this vocation, creating a kind of playground for the little guests and, at the same time, a place where parents could relax. A defining point of the project was also the beautiful Alpine surroundings, in which the hotel complex was meant to blend in harmoniously.
The solution proposed by noa*, commissioned to design the new structure, surprisingly started with the roof: the traditional gable roof of the old hotel complex was replaced by a large wave structure that covers new and existing buildings, sloping down on both sides until it disappears into the ground. It is a kind of hill that blends in with the landscape by covering itself with vegetation, and that transforms into a ski slope, skating rink, playground, adventure park, leisure and recreation area.
“We wanted to bring together the old and the new into a uniform whole,” explains architect Andreas Profanter. “The new roof allowed us to connect the various buildings in the complex and link them with the surrounding nature. But it also allowed us to invent new spaces, such as the ski slope, which enrich what we can offer to families.”

Project name: Falkensteiner Family Resort Lido
Typology: Hotel
Location: Ehrenburg/Casteldarne, Pustertal Valley, South Tyrol
Client: Falkensteiner Hotels & Residences
Construction: start November 2020
Completion: December 2021
Intervention: Architecture & Interior Design
Renovation, extension
Project volume: 29,300 m3
Gross project area (garage and technical spaces excluded): 6,000 m2
Text: Laura Ragazzola
Translations: Landoor
Photographs: Alex Filz